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Haptik co-founder Aakrit Vaish and Together Fund’s Pratyush Choudhury launch $75 Mn AI fund

EntrackrEntrackr · 4m ago
Haptik co-founder Aakrit Vaish and Together Fund’s Pratyush Choudhury launch $75 Mn AI fund
Medial

Haptik co-founder Aakrit Vaish and Together Fund’s Pratyush Choudhury launch $75 Mn AI fund Aakrit Vaish, co-founder of Haptik, and Pratyush Choudhury, former principal at Together Fund, have launched Activate, a $75 million venture fund that will back early-stage AI founders in India. Vaish announced the launch on X. The fund will invest between $500 K and $3 million in companies at inception, including those at the ideation stage. Activate has brought together a global group of limited partners that includes Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, Aravind Srinivas of Perplexity, Ashish Vaswani of Essential AI, Dhaval Shroff from the Tesla AI team, Manohar Paluri of Meta, Ramesh Raskar of MIT Media Lab, Shyamal Anadkat of OpenAI, Shailendra Singh of Peak XV, Srikanth Velamakanni of Fractal, Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm, and Vishal Misra of Columbia University, among other AI-focused leaders. The founders said the LP network will give Activate portfolio companies access to guidance across AI research, infrastructure, and global expansion. Activate’s model is based on four principles which are rapid product iteration, deep technical expertise, strong product judgment, and close founder support. Activate has already started making its first set of investments. Before creating the fund, Vaish and Choudhury invested as angels in companies such as Composio, Sri Mandir, Spry, ZuAI, Emergent, Park Plus, Rapidclaims, and Spendflo. Vaish earlier founded Haptik which was acquired by Reliance Jio in 2019. Choudhury previously worked at AWS and has been active in the GenAI community across the Asia Pacific region.

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Proptech startup Truva raises $9 Mn co-led by Stellaris and Orios

EntrackrEntrackr · 2m ago
Proptech startup Truva raises $9 Mn co-led by Stellaris and Orios
Medial

Proptech startup Truva raises $9 Mn co-led by Stellaris and Orios Proptech startup Truva has raised $9 million (about Rs 78 crore) in a funding round co-led by early stage venture capital firms Stellaris Venture Partners and Orios Venture Partners. Of the total capital, $7.3 million came from equity sales, while $1.7 million was raised as venture debt from Stride Ventures. The round also saw participation from angel investors including Myntra founder Mukesh Bansal, Ramakant Sharma, Aakrit Vaish, and Miten Sampat. The fresh funds will be used to expand its presence in Mumbai and enter new markets such as Delhi NCR and Bengaluru, strengthen its real estate intelligence platform, and support inventory linked working capital to scale staging, legal checks, and transaction execution, Truva said in a press release. Founded in 2023 by Puneet Arora, Monil Singhal, and Ankit Gupta, Truva provides detailed property listings with extensive insights and buyer support, including assistance with financing, paperwork, and registration. The startup also offers features such as natural light scores, noise ratings, 3D tours, and high quality photos and videos. According to Entrackr’s annual report, proptech startups raised $368 million across 31 deals in 2025, accounting for 2.82% of the total fundraising during the year. Truva said it operates across seven micro markets in Mumbai, having acquired homes worth over Rs 500 crore and sold more than Rs 300 crore worth of resale inventory to over 200 buyers and sellers. The company reported six fold year on year growth and aims to surpass Rs 1,000 crore in annualised GMV over the next year. For the year ended March 2024, Truva generated Rs 10.88 lakh in operating revenue and reported a loss of Rs 10.30 lakh, reflecting its early stage, pre revenue operations. The company is yet to file its financial statements for FY25.

Nikhil Kamath and Kishore Biyani launch The Foundery to build early-stage startups in 90 days

EntrackrEntrackr · 3m ago
Nikhil Kamath and Kishore Biyani launch The Foundery to build early-stage startups in 90 days
Medial

Nikhil Kamath and Kishore Biyani have jointly launched The Foundery, a residential business launchpad aimed at identifying and building early-stage Indian startups. Positioned as a co-founder factory, The Foundery operates a 90-day residential programme where participants work on taking ideas from concept to an investible business. The model combines elements of a school, accelerator, and venture studio, with a strong focus on hands-on execution rather than classroom learning. Participants work closely with operators, investors, and domain experts to validate ideas, build products, test market fit, and structure companies. Those selected retain up to 25% equity in the ventures they help create. Startups that clear internal milestones can receive seed funding of up to Rs 4 crore, along with continued strategic support after the programme. The Foundery is open to aspiring founders, early-stage entrepreneurs, and mid-career professionals. The selection process prioritises problem-solving ability, creativity, and founder mindset over formal credentials or polished pitches. Applicants go through multiple evaluation rounds focused on idea clarity, execution thinking, and resilience. Mentors associated with The Foundery include Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Kunal Bahl, Mithun Sacheti, Varun Berry, Rama Bijapurkar, and Aakrit Vaish, among others. Each cohort concludes with a demo day where startups pitch to a curated investor group. Alongside venture building, the programme also includes a “School of Life” track focused on decision-making, resilience, and founder psychology. The Foundery will operate as a residential campus-based programme and plans to run multiple cohorts annually.

Scrut Automation kicks off Series A round with $9 Mn

EntrackrEntrackr · 2y ago
Scrut Automation kicks off Series A round with $9 Mn
Medial

Risk-focused compliance automation platform Scrut Automation has raised Rs 75 crore or $9 million in its series A round from existing investors. The round also saw the participation of Lightspeed Partners, MassMutual Ventures, and Endiya Partners. The board at Scrut Automation has passed a special resolution to issue 4,977 Series A CCPS at an issue price of Rs 1,50,188 each to raise Rs 75 crore or $9 million, its regulatory filing sourced from the Registrar of Companies shows. Lightspeed India and MassMutual Ventures pumped in Rs 41.5 crore and Rs 24.9 crore, respectively, while the rest of the amount came from Endiya during the round. As per startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, the company has been valued at around Rs 615 crore or $75 million post-allotment. Scrut Automation has secured over $20 million to date. As per TheKredible, Lightspeed India is the largest shareholder in the startup with a 20.74% stake followed by Endiya Partners and MassMutual Investors with 15.34% and 12.55% shares, respectively. Its co-founders Ayush Ghosh Choudhury, Jayesh Gadewar, and Kush Kaushik cumulatively own 38% of the company. Founded in 2020, Scrut streamlines numerous labor-intensive compliance tasks through integration with cloud and SaaS tools. It gathers hundreds of evidence artifacts automatically and helps monitor entity-level risks and controls from a single dashboard. It supports 15 compliances including risk management, vendor risk, policy, continuous compliance, evidence collection, access control, and others. It partnered with 20 auditors and has a presence in more than 25 countries. During the fiscal year that ended March 2023, its revenue from operations was recorded at Rs 7.24 crore, rising from Rs 44 lakh in FY22. The Bengaluru-based company also posted a loss of Rs 15.40 crore in the same period.

After UAE debut, Practo launches in US with $75 Mn GMV run-rate

EntrackrEntrackr · 2m ago
After UAE debut, Practo launches in US with $75 Mn GMV run-rate
Medial

After UAE debut, Practo launches in US with $75 Mn GMV run-rate IPO-bound digital healthcare platform Practo has today announced the launch of its care navigation platform in the US market after a strong debut in the UAE earlier this year. According to the company, Practo has listed over 200,000 doctors across specialties in the US and crossed an annualised GMV run rate of $75 million, supported by more than 1 million users on the platform. As per the company, traffic in the US has grown nearly six-fold since launch, with monthly active users crossing 300,000. Early adoption has been strongest in dental and mental health, with over 500 doctors across more than 150 clinics, hospitals, and independent practices monetised through paid subscriptions, the press release added. The US entry comes at a time when Practo has significantly strengthened its financial footing. As reported earlier by Entrackr, the company turned operating EBITDA-positive for the first time in FY25 with an operating profit of Rs 15 crore, compared to a loss of Rs 17 crore in FY24. Its revenue from operations stood at Rs 234 crore, while GMV remained steady at Rs 3,500 crore, alongside positive cash flows. Shashank ND, co-founder and CEO of Practo, said the “US launch reflects the platform’s ability to solve for trust, depth, and care navigation even in complex healthcare systems.” He added that Practo is building outcomes-led healthcare infrastructure powered by rich data, with the broader goal of improving health outcomes through more informed and accountable care decisions. Following its US launch, Practo is expanding its on-ground team and is also evaluating strategic acquisitions to deepen provider networks and broaden specialty coverage. With India, the UAE, and now the US in focus, the company aims to scale its international revenues while sustaining profitability, further strengthening its IPO narrative.

Phot.AI raises $2.7 Mn to automate e-commerce creative design

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Phot.AI raises $2.7 Mn to automate e-commerce creative design
Medial

Phot.AI, an AI-driven creative automation platform, has secured $2.7 million in a seed funding round led by Info Edge Ventures, with participation from Together Fund and AC Ventures. The funds will be used to expand the team, invest in R&D, and launch the much-awaited copilot. Phot.AI was co-founded in 2023 by Venus Dhuria, Aneesh Rayancha, and Akshit Raja, who previously built AppyHigh. Phot.AI automates creative design and marketplace listings for e-commerce, brands, and retail by using AI agents that learn which designs perform best. The platform reduces manual effort and costs by up to 80% and enables A/B testing of creatives, boosting conversions by 40%. Phot.AI supports product photography, image enhancement, and batch processing using Generative AI, with over 3 million sign-ups pre-launch.

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